While Eshoo, who was first elected in 1992, is poised to advance to the November election with little trouble, Kumar faced a tough challenge for the second spot from former Menlo Park Mayor Peter Ohtaki.
The unofficial results, which don't include some vote-by-mail and provisional ballots, showed Kumar leading the field of challengers by 2,166 votes, with Ohtaki, a Republican, in third place.
In Santa Clara County, which has the vast majority of the District 16 population, Kumar had received 11,177 votes, or 16.5% of the total votes cast in the county, while Ohtaki trailed him with 8,615 votes, or 12.7%, according to results released just after 10 p.m. Tuesday. Republican Richard Fox and Democrats Greg Tanaka and Ajwang Rading were trailing them with 8.7%, 6.4% and 5.6%, respectively.
In San Mateo County, 396 votes separated the top two challengers to Eshoo as of Wednesday morning. Ohtaki was in second place with 12% of the votes, or 1,570 total votes, while Kumar was in third with 9%, having received 1,174 votes. Fox, Rading and Tanaka were trailing them in the polls with 8.3%, 5.1% and 4.4% of the votes, respectively.
Republican Benjamin Solomon and John Karl Fredrich, who is not affiliated with any party, had each picked up less than 2% of the vote.
If the results hold up after the final tally, the November runoff will be a rematch from the 2020 general election, when Eshoo faced off against Kumar. She prevailed after picking up 63% of the vote.
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